Netezma
Netezma (Vέτεzμα) is a polytheistic religion practiced by a large portion of sirens. It is, at its core, based on the three gifts said to be given to sirens by the goddess Xanipa at the beginning of the world. Netezma is the most commonly practiced religion throughout the siren world. Etymology Netezma comes from the siren word 'neft,' meaning 'gift.' Early siren worshippers had no recognized name for the religion, although there were different names referring to groups that worshipped or focused on different deities. As a whole, the religion was referred to as 'tedzma siren' (τεδzμα sιρέν) meaning 'the religion of all sirens.' With the rise of the Selesi religion, however, the 'religion of all sirens' no longer belonged to ''all ''sirens. While the early Selesi shared a number of beliefs with the Netezmasi, the Selesi were still seen as heretical and could not be treated as a different sect of the same religion. The religion was called 'Lemreka' (Λέμρεκα) or 'Correct Path' for some time, before adherents settled on a name meaning 'Gift-ism,' representing their belief that followers of other religions had rejected Xanipa's gifts. History From the time before the First Era through to the Third Era, Netezma was viewed as being the only religion followed by sirens. While other religions and gods were being worshipped at that time, their gods and practices were often absorbed by Netezma and treated as though they had been Netezmasi from the beginning. With the birth of the Selesi religion in the Red Era, Netezma was forced to distinguish itself, as beliefs of the Selesi religion were seen as heresy and could not be re-absorbed into Netezma. The religious leaders of the time determined that the followers of the Selesi religion had officially rejected the gifts of Xanipa, and were therefore no longer sirens. A series of bloody battles ensued, and relations between the two religions are still contentious to this day. During the Wolf Era, Netezmasi was split once more. As more and more followers of Netezma moved inland, they were met with a dilemma, as Netezma beliefs of the time stated that the land of the dead existed beneath the Mediterranean Sea, whose name in siren means 'Sea of Dekas.' Adherents argued whether disposing a body with methods other than burial at sea would allow a person to reach the eight gates, or if the person would then never reach the afterlife. Body transferral services were made available for inland corpses, but Cosmology See Netezma Cosmology . Scriptures Netezma mythology was traditionally passed down orally, collectively known as ''Pangelinar ''or 'The Recitations.' Recitations were traditionally performed by groups of two or three individuals, whose lines often played off of one another's in ways that made them easier to memorize. ''Pangelyat ''would often alternate between the roles of narrator and actor, playing the part of the characters within the story, though more elaborate performances would introduce performers to recite the lines of each character. While the stories have been collected in writing, there does not exist a single definitive collection of Recitations. Many stories have multiple regional variants, while other stories were prominent in one region but wholly unknown in others. While editors differ on which stories to include in their collections, as well as which variants to use, the order in which the stories are listed is another point of variation. Many of the stories have only vague hints as to when they occur in relation to other stories. Recitations are performed during temple services, but also play a central role in many Netezma holiday celebrations. Gods See Netezma Gods.